The Seme Area Command
of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was recently taken aback by a media report where it was alleged that the operatives collected N2.5 million per truck of rice to allow them into the country.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Seme Boarder Command, Mrs Ollota Earnest who cleared the air during a press conference in Lagos recently said the report is either a figment of the reporter’s imagination or the reporter is working for smugglers, trying to blackmail the command into softening their sustained stance against rice importation and smuggling through the land border in line with the Federal Government’s directive.
According to him, the reporter is not unaware of the strides and efforts being made by the command against rice smuggling, she chose to blackout the command’s achievement in the fight against rice smuggling.
“The reporter’s bias came to the fore when a recent attempt to smuggle rice into the country resulted in a single seizure valued at N7.5million. Press statement on this feat was sent to the media, including Ships and Ports. It was also reported in national newspapers including The Punch of Monday February 17 (Page 5) and the Daily Independence of same date (Page 13). This achievement was deliberately ignored by the medium in a desperate attempt to portray us as not working,” he said.
He debunked the report that large trailers, that could carry between 60,000 and 72,000 tonnes of rice were used to haul smuggled rice into the country from the Cotonou ports.
About 70 of such articulated trucks bring rice into Lagos alone on a daily basis, he said, stressing that the smugglers have taken over rice business in the country.”
The Seme Customs image maker said it is pertinent to state here that Willy Egbudin, the Customs Area Controller (CAC) in charge of Seme Command did not only sustain the anti smuggling tempo he met on the ground, but has increased it, and that he had fully deployed all the logistics and manpower available to the command in the anti smuggling drive with motivated workforce to suppress smuggling.
This organised falsehood will not dampen our morale. The Comptroller General of Customs has invested in our capacity development and logistical support therefore, we have no reason to fail in sustaining his zero tolerance on smuggling,” he said.
While the smugglers are licking their wounds, counting their losses, we will resist any form of distraction from any quarter.